I am Keren Brown(note: Keren with 2 E's), a food obsessed, recipe crazed foodie!
I am dedicated to getting Seattle the foodie recognition it deserves.Hey! Seattle should be in every issue of Food and Wine. Read about Seattle events,
try my recipes or just immerse yourself in the food obsession.
Check out my other blog in the Seattle PI http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/franticfoodie/

The book is not a cookbook but a book about combining interesting flavors. It organizes many ingredients and explains how to cook intuitively using these ingredients. It will teach you how to pair flavors. It has been called a thesaurus for writers, a reference tool that will make you a better cook.

To listen to the duo on the radio show " In the Kitchen with Tom and Thierry," click here

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Flavor of Seattle is an association geared at preserving the experience of dining at local, neighborhood restaurants. It is a unique membership card for those who like to eat out.

How does it work?

A restaurant card costs 50 dollars and can be purchased at any of the restaurants printed on the back of the card. When you spend over 50 dollars at any participating restaurants, you get 25 dollars back (Not including tax). Basically, you get to try every restaurant on the card once and save 25 dollars each time.

Note: You can't use it to pay for dinner at the restaurant that you purchase it at on the same day of purchase.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sometimes a recipe is just a recipe but sometimes recipes come with a story. The recipe can make you giggle to yourself, remind you of something or just remind you of a place. I was excited to see that Karen Binder, owner of Madison Park Cafe will be the new food columnist for the Madison Park times. Karen, a former molecular biologist, started the cafe 29 years ago. Now she will be sharing her stories, her recipes and tidbits of her food world.

Read her article , The Dark blue Jewels of the Berry World and learn how to make blueberry clafoutis from Ruth Coffey, the Madison Park Cafe pastry chef. Find out where to pick blueberries for a really good price too.

Now I really wish I hadn't polished off all those blueberries in my cereal, guess I need to get some more.

Monday, September 15, 2008

This morning, I received a newsletter from Cook's World Cooking School with a list of upcoming classes. This is what I do for fun. I check out the cooking classes available.Correction: This list happens to be an abridged version of a list posted by Cuesa, the center for urban education about sustainable agriculture. This is a non-profit that runs the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in SF. For the full version , click here. While you are checking out the site, be sure to check out the recipes.

FARM to FORK" shopping Guidelines for our Food Friends at Market

Sustainable Agriculture: Agriculture that is socially just, humane, economically viable, and environmentally sound.Conventional: Refers to standard agricultural practices widespread in the industry. Can include use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, "mono-cropping," antibiotics, hormones and other agribusiness approaches. Conventional farming in the U.S. may also include the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market prohibits the sale of any products known to contain GMOs.Transitional: Farmers need to practice organic methods for three years on a given piece of land before the products grown there can be certified organic. "Transitional" means that the farmland is in the midst of that transition period towards organic certification.Organically Grown/Certified Organic: All products sold as "organic" must be certified. Certification includes annual submission of an organic system plan and inspection of farm fields and processing facilities to verify that organic practices and record keeping are being followed. Certification is carried out by organizations accredited by the USDA. Organic farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, genetically modified crops, growth hormones, or antibiotics. Organic meat and poultry can be fed only organically-grown feed.Heirloom: Heirloom crop varieties, also called farmers' varieties or traditional varieties, have been developed by farmers through years of cultivation, selection, and seed saving, and passed down through generations.Vine-ripened/Tree-ripened: These terms are applied to fruit that has been allowed to ripen on the vine or tree. Many fruits that are shipped long distances are picked while still unripe and firm, and then sometimes treated with ethylene gas to "ripen" and soften themArtisan/Artisanal: The terms "artisan" and "artisanal" imply that products are made by hand in small batches.Free range: Free range (or free roaming) implies that a meat or poultry product comes from an animal that was raised out of confinement or was free to roam. Its use on beef is unregulated and there is no standard definition of this term. USDA requires that poultry have access to the outdoors but for an undetermined period each day. "Free range" claims on eggs are not regulated.Grass-fed: The diet of grass-fed animals consists of freshly grazed pasture during the growing season and stored grasses (hay or grass silage) during the winter months or drought conditions. Grass feeding is used with cattle, sheep, goats, and bison. (Other terms for "grass-fed" products include "pasture-raised," "pasture-finished," and "grassHumane: If an animal product is labeled "humane," it implies that the animals were treated with compassion. "Certified Humane" means that the animals were allowed to engage in their natural behaviors; raised with sufficient space, shelter and gentle handling to limit stress; and given ample fresh water and a healthy diet without added antibiotics or hormones. Not all "humane" claims are regulated.No hormones: Hormones are commonly used in the commercial farming of animals such as cattle to increase the size of beef cattle or to increase the production of milk in dairy cattle. Some of these hormones are natural, some are synthetic, and some are genetically engineered. If a ranch or product professes "no hormones," this means that they do not engage in this practice.No antibiotics: Antibiotics are given to animals such as cows, hogs and chickens in order to prevent diseases that run rampant in the cramped conditions in which many food animals are kept. When a ranch or product professes "no antibiotics," this means that they do not engage in these practices.Naturally grown/all-natural: USDA guidelines state that "natural" meat and poultry products can only undergo minimal processing and cannot contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, or other artificial ingredients. The claim "natural" is otherwise unregulatedRaw milk cheese: Cheese and other dairy products made from milk that is not pasteurized say "raw milk" on the label. In the U.S., raw milk cheeses are required to be aged for 60 days as a safety precaution.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Black Bottle Does Lunch! This Belltown Gastro-Pub is just the place to go to get some drinks and some snacks with some friends at night. I know about the lunch menu for a while, read about the Pho-bulous soup on Cornichon a while back,but only lately did I drop by for lunch.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

If you love cooking and want to learn more, Sizzleworks is just for you.

Sizzleworks, formerly known as Rain City Cooking School is celebrating it's recent growth and success with an open house from 6 p.m-8.pm on Friday September 12.

Get a chance to meet Chef Carol Dearth and Missy Will, the new executive chef of operations. Learn about the classes coming up, the guest chef series, the basics series and other cooking classes. Sample culinary delights and interesting wines.

"Cooking should be fun as well as instructional, and we want all our participants to experience the joy of cooking as well as sampling delicious cuisine from all over the world, especially prepared by Carol and her chefs," Missy Will

Sizzleworks is located in Bellevue at 14111 NE 24th. If you are interested in attending, please call 425-644-4285.

Philippe Thomelin of Olivar will be teaching a Spanish class in October, sharing his recipes and secrets on making Spanish food. Each course will be paired with Spanish wines.For more on this class and other cooking classes, click here

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Some time has passed but I still want to talk about our last food blogger dinner at Olivar. It was so nice, some new people attended and we had a whole little area of the restaurant to ourselves. We had an elephant gift exchange and this time the gifts got a little more interesting. A bag of saturn peaches, olive picks since the place is called Olivar and homemade jams.

Some of the blogs and writers: Candace from Italian Woman at the table, Ronald from Cornichon, Dawn and Eric from Wright Eats,Jake from Daily Munch, Charlyn from Duecy Platefood writers Annie Beckman, Joann Natalia Aquino and Larry +Michaela from Vindu Lac Winery.Some of the dishes we enjoyed were homemade canneloni,the famous OlivarAlbóndigas de Cordero (Meatballs made of Ground lamb, cilantro, eggplant, herb sea salt),Flamenquín de Cerdo Con Jamón y Queso(Stuffed pork loin with Serrano ham and Manchego cheese(my favorite). If you are not familiar with Olivar, they have small plates, daily specials and prix fixe menus. Chef Philippe has a chalkboard with specials, every day there is something new to try.

We had a great time, now I have to go and plan the next one.

If you have a food blog in Seattle and would like to be invited to join us. Please email:kerenlovestocook@gmail.com